Bleeding, Death Similar for DOAC vs Warfarin in VTE

Direct oral anticoagulants not linked to increased risk of major bleeding, death in venous thromboembolism

(HealthDay News) -- For patients with venous thromboembolism, direct oral anticoagulant (DOAC) use is not associated with increased risk of major bleeding or mortality within the first 90 days compared with warfarin use, according to a study published online in the BMJ.

Min Jun, PhD, from the University of Calgary in Canada, and colleagues conducted a retrospective matched cohort study to examine the safety of DOAC versus warfarin use for treatment of venous thromboembolism. Data were included for 59,525 adults (12,489 DOAC users and 47,036 warfarin users) with a new diagnosis of venous thromboembolism.

The researchers found that over a median follow-up of 85.2 days, 3.3% of participants had a major bleed and 1.7% died. A similar risk was seen for major bleeding with DOAC and warfarin (pooled hazard ratio, 0.92; 95% confidence interval, 0.82 to 1.03); the direction of the association favored DOAC use. For DOAC versus warfarin, there was no difference in the risk of death (pooled hazard ratio, 0.99; 95% confidence interval, 0.84 to 1.16). Heterogeneity was not seen across centers, between patients with versus without chronic kidney disease, across age groups, or according to gender.

"Treatment with DOACs, compared with warfarin, was not associated with an increased risk of major bleeding or all-cause mortality in the first 90 days of treatment," the authors write.